Disposable hygiene articles, such as sanitary napkins and panty liners, are normally packaged individually in e.g. an easy wrap or a single wrap. Individual packages facilitate hygienic carrying of single articles for future use, e.g. in a handbag. The edges of the individual packages are often sealed by means of ultrasonic welding or heat welding. Further, the packaging units are often used both as a means for packaging an unused article and for disposal of the used article.
It is desirable that used articles of this kind can be disposed of discretely and hygienically. This may be particularly important when the user lacks the possibility to dispose of the used article immediately after the used article has been replaced, e.g. when there is no waste bin available in the toilet area. In this case, the user may need to put the used article in e.g. her handbag or backpack, which requires the package to be adequately sealed in order to avoid staining and odour.
One solution addressing the disposal problem has been suggested in WO 2013/162430, describing a packaging unit being formed from a sheet having at least one folding axis dividing the sheet into a first region and a second region. The inner surface of the first region comprises an inner edge portion and an outer edge portion, wherein one of the portions is provided with adhesive, and the other of the portions is adhesive-free. Further, one of the inner and outer edge portions of the second region is either provided with adhesive or is adhesive-free in a complementary manner to the first region. Thus, when the sheet is folded about the folding axis, the edge portions carrying adhesive in the first region are brought in contact with the adhesive-free edge portions in the second region, and the edge portions carrying adhesive in the second region are brought in contact with the adhesive-free edge portions in the first region. The packaging unit disclosed in WO 2013/162430 provides an improved sealing both when packaging a new hygiene article, and when the packaging unit is used for disposal of a soiled hygiene article.
However, it has been shown that the manufacturing process of a packaging unit described in WO 2013/162430 may be adversely affected by the presence of adhesive-carrying edge portions. For instance, during the folding step, the adhesive arranged at the edge portions of the packaging unit may be caught by the folding tool, which will either cause a transfer of the adhesive from the packaging unit to the tool, or will lead to an inaccurate folding. In both cases, manufacturing of the packaging unit will be impaired.
Hence, there is a need for a packaging unit which can be used both for packaging a new hygiene article and for hygienic keeping and disposal of the used hygiene article, which is aesthetically appealing and which facilitates manufacturing.